Ambassadors show strength in numbers

By Carmen castro
Staff Reporter

Maria Christina Poulos, a senior communication studies major, remembers how excited she was the day she received her TCU Ambassadors application.

Poulos joined TCU Ambassadors, a student volunteer program that helps counselors recruit high school students, four years ago when it was named Frog LINKS.

“It’s a passion now,” Poulos said. “TCU Ambassadors has allowed me to spread the love I have for TCU.”

Poulos, the current president, said TCU Ambassadors is at a new level with a record 185 student volunteers. They recently had 48 percent of the new members participate in this semester’s first Monday at TCU, she said. Monday at TCU is an all-day campus visit filled with informational sessions for prospective students and their families.

“We’ve already started with a bang,” Poulos said. “Participation at the first event speaks for itself.”

The application for TCU Ambassadors is mailed to incoming students who are nominated by an admissions counselor the summer before entering TCU, Poulos said.

This year, with TCU’s more selective admissions process, the pool of freshman nominees was even greater than previous years, so more students were nominated by admissions counselors, said Erin Campbell, vice president of TCU Ambassadors and a junior speech communication major.

Poulos said having so many people is great since membership tends to drop in the spring semester because volunteers have other commitments, such as concentrating on academics.

Allen Lutes, the organization’s adviser, said it’s been amazing to see TCU Ambassadors triple in size during his three years as adviser.

“They add those little personalized touches that interest prospectives,” Lutes said. “A lot of students remember the handwritten postcards they receive from TCU in the mail.”

Every year, TCU Ambassadors handwrite more than 2,000 personalized postcards to prospective students by meeting twice a week for two hours each day, over pizza and a movie, Poulos said.

TCU Ambassadors also arrange overnight housing for prospective students the night before Monday at TCU, Lutes said.

Ambassador Clement Ogujiofor, a sophomore physics major and director of the program’s overnight housing and recruitment, said it feels significant to see firsthand how prospective students start getting excited about college life.

“When they first arrive, they look so lethargic,” Ogujiofor said. “As they leave, they’re all excited.”

Lutes said TCU Ambassadors also go back to their hometowns during the holidays and recruit at their high school alma maters and give special campus tours to other groups, such as elementary school students, to show the importance of a college education.

TCU Ambassadors are required to serve 15 hours during the fall semester because of the demand of volunteers for college fairs, Lutes said.

This year, TCU Ambassadors adopted Bridge Street, a halfway house, as its official philanthropy. They will spend time with teenagers and promote the importance of a college education, Lutes said.

Poulos said four dates have been set this semester to visit the teens at Bridge Street.